Unstick doors with shims

Doors sometimes stick because the wood swells during periods of high humidity, but there are other causes, such as out-of-square door frames, and you'll need to do some detective work to find the sticking point. MORGUEFILE.COM

Q. A couple of the wood doors in our house stick and are hard to open and close. I tried tightening the hinge screws, but it didn't help. What next?

A. Doors sometimes stick because the wood swells during periods of high humidity. If this is seasonal in your area, the wood will probably shrink when drier weather comes and the problem will solve itself. But there are other causes, such as out-of-square door frames, and you'll need to do some detective work to find the sticking point.

Tightening the hinge screws, and making sure they are gripping firmly, is always the best first step. Next, close the door as tightly as possible and see if you can insert the blade of a putty knife between the vertical edge of the door and the frame on the lock side. If the blade jams at some point on that edge, mark the spot with a piece of tape and open the door. Sand the jamming area with 100-grit sandpaper on a sanding block; try and remove only a thin layer of paint or finish, which is often enough.

Removing wood from the door is a last resort, but if the lock edge is still jamming and there is no other option, use a small block plane to remove thin shavings; this can often be done without removing the door from the hinges. If the jamming point isn't on the lock edge, the top corner on the lock side and the bottom corner on that side are other common sticking points. Either of these jams can usually be cured with shims, as long as you have that small gap on the lock side.

Shims are simply thin pieces of cardboard that fit behind one of the hinge leafs. Cardboard cut from the back of a writing tablet or old playing cards make good shims. The point of a shim is to tilt the door just a tiny bit to relieve that jam on the top corner or bottom corner. To cure a top-corner jam, shim the top hinge leaf where the door is attached to the frame. For a bottom-corner jam, shim the bottom hinge leaf. To insert a shim, open the door as far as possible, and put a wedge or other support under the door bottom to hold it in position. Cut the shim so it will fit in the hinge mortise, and punch screw holes in it with an awl or ice pick. Remove the screws from the hinge leaf, put the shim behind it, and screw the hinge leaf back on tightly. A couple of shims might be needed in some cases, which is OK as long as the door isn't tilted enough to jam at the lock edge.

Q. I came across devices called power inverters at a local electronics store. They are inexpensive and the clerk said they could be very useful in power blackouts, which have troubled my area for years. Could one of these things back up my sump pump and refrigerator in an emergency?

A: If your power blackouts usually last for hours instead of days, a power inverter would help if it has enough wattage output to run your sump pump and refrigerator. I'd avoid very cheap inverters for important backup duties like these. I have seen some inverters advertised for as little as $20. I'd pick a good-quality device, and make sure it has the wattage output you need. Some dealers have wattage charts for various appliances, but a typical half-horsepower sump pump requires about 1050 watts to run and 2,150 surge watts at startup; a refrigerator-freezer 700 watts to run and 2,200 startup watts.

Keep in mind that a power inverter gets its own power from a 12-volt car battery, converting the direct current to the alternating current needed in homes. Pick an inverter that connects directly to the battery, not one that plugs into a cigarette lighter. You will also need a heavy-duty, outdoor extension cord to service each appliance on the hookup. The car battery can rather quickly lose its power unless the car is kept running to charge the battery. All this can make for a rather awkward situation, but it is worth it if the alternative is a flooded basement or a freezer full of spoiled food. However, if your area is subject to long power blackouts, I would definitely consider a regular electric-power generator. Some excellent generators sell for less than $500 and can keep a home at close to normal operation in a blackout.

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